You mean I have to sit here and take this abuse?

My friend does catering jobs all the time for the bigwigs in Munich, and she says it's horrible. She actually has to burn herself, because God forbid she should use a cloth napkin, and if anything goes against the noble customers' wishes RIGHT THIS INSTANT, all hell breaks loose. She had to work 11-hour shifts without a break.

On the other hand, I also see the other side. I myself am sick of people calling me at home, trying to sell me something...which is illegal in Germany, anyway, but no company ever sticks to this law. My mother was tricked into getting a new phone contract over the phone, although she didn't think she had accepted yet (turns out she had, no contract needed - her yes on the phone was taped by them), and when she made use of her right to withdraw from it within the next 14 days (I wrote the letter for her, she signed it), they simply ignored it. Now, they are pretending they never got it, and won't let her out of the contract.

Or the British Telecom here, who put us on hold for two hours every time we called them, only to refuse to refund us the line rental they had charged us without justification. After thorough investigation and about ten phone conversations (the first 9 nice, the last one sharper and led by somebody else), it turns out their engineer lied on the sheet, saying he had installed a line, when he hadn't, because we had already had one (which we called them about before).

The worst thing are still banks, though. They really try to screw you over, no scruples involved. All this merchandise and all that pressure can make you feel pretty lost as a consumer, because it seems like there isn't a single honest person you can talk to. And I understand that businesses always need to do what's best for them, but there should be certain boundaries. Although it is definitely wrong to be abusive to the person sitting there in the call centre, and it is not their fault, I understand why people may get angry.

How ya doing, buddy?